Vanderbilt
USA

Jan Aertson van der Bilt 1620-1705
married Anneken Hendricks 1629-1655

Aris van der Bilt 1653-1715
married Hilletie Remsen Vanderbeek 1653-

Jacob Van der Bilt I 1692-1760
married Neeltje Denyse 1689/98-1770
Jacob Van Derbilt 1723-1766

Jane Vanderbilt 1722-1805
married Sampson Howell 17181-1803

Cornelius Van Derbilt 1764-1832
married
Phebe Hand 1767-1854

Cornelius Vanderbilt 1794-1877
married 1813
Sophia Johnson 1797-1868
married 1869
Frank Crawford 1839-1885

Jan Aertson (1620-1705), was a Dutch farmer from the village of De Bilt, Utrecht, the Netherlands who emigrated to New York as an indentured servant in 1650. Aertson’s village name was eventually added to the Dutch "van der" (from the) to create "van der bilt" which was evolved to Vanderbilt. The family removed to Staten Island in 1715, the colony originally known as New Netherland. Not much is known about the early history of the Vanderbilts in America. The Vanderbilts’ of America’s were among the most influential families and had sumptuous city residences, country houses among the most ambitious domestic dwellings constructed during the late nineteenth century. Patriarch Cornelius Vanderbilt a noted philanthropist, established the family fortune by monopolizing steam-driven transportation to and from New York City, at first on water, and later by rail; his heirs increased the Vanderbilt wealth, and in later generations the family continued to produce leading names in high society, fashion, philanthropy, and the sporting life.
How did the richest family in America spend money? Yachting, horse breeding, and racing automobiles became family avocations. They attended opera, attired in top hats and tiaras, and collected art. They gave to worthy causes, married European titles. Every one of William Henry's eight children eventually owned a mansion on Fifth Avenue as well as several "cottages" in the country or by the sea. With their grandfather's millions, the younger Vanderbilts gained admission to drawing rooms and ballrooms where the Commodore himself would have been unwelcome. Cornelius established what became the Vanderbilt custom of luxurious residences.

Cornelius Vanderbilt 1794-1877

"I have been insane on the subject of moneymaking all my life"
"I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I will ruin you."
"What do I care about the law ?"
"Hain't I got the power ?"

Never one to pay too much heed to the fine points of law in his drive to best his competitors, Vanderbilt had few scruples when it came to bribing public officials or manipulating stocks. On the other hand he developed a reputation for honesty. He was a man of boundless energy, and his acute business sense enabled him to outmaneuver his rivals. The largest employer of labor in the United States, he despised all routine office work; kept his figures in a vest-pocket book; ate sparingly; never speculated in stocks; never refused to see a caller; rose early; read Pilgrim's Progress every year, and, for diversion, played whist and drove his trotters whenever he could.
Ruthless in business, known for cut-throat business practices and holding tightly to every penny, Cornelius Vanderbilt made few friends in his lifetime but many enemies. He was a vulgar, mean-spirited individual who made life miserable for everyone around him, including his family. In his will, he disowned his sons except for William who was as ruthless in business as his father and the one Cornelius believed capable of maintaining the business empire.

Cornelius Vanderbilt, nicknamed "Commodore", steamship, railroad promoter and financier. He developped the Staten Island ferry business into a multi-million-dollar steam-ship line and later consolidated the New York Central and Hudson Railroads.
Cornelius Vanderbilt was the fourth of nine children, was born near Stapleton, Staten Island, New York, on the 27th of May 1794, to Cornelius Vanderbilt and Phebe Hand at Port Richmond, Staten Island, New York, the son of a farmer and ferryman on State Island.

On December 19, 1813, Cornelius Vanderbilt when he was nineteen years old, married his cousin and neighbour, Sophia Johnson (1795-1868), daughter of his mother's sister. He and his wife had thirteen children one of which, a boy, died young.

His children were:
Phebe Jane (Vanderbilt) Cross 1814-1878
Ethelinda (Vanderbilt) Allen 1817-1889
Eliza (Vanderbilt) Osgood 1819-1890
William Henry Vanderbilt 1821-1885
Emily Almira (Vanderbilt) Thorn 1823-1896
Sophia Johnson (Vanderbilt) Torrance 1825-1912
Maria Louisa (Vanderbilt) Clark Niven 1827-1896
Frances Lavinia Vanderbilt 1828-1868
Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt 1830-1882
Mary Alicia (Vanderbilt) LaBau Berger 1834-1902
Catherine Juliette (Vanderbilt) Barker LaFitte 1836-1881
George Washington Vanderbilt 1839-1864.

After the death of Sophia Vanderbilt, he eloped to Canada where on August 21, 1869 he married a distant cousin from Mobile, Alabama by the name of Frank Armstrong Crawford 1839-1885. Ms. Crawford was 43 years his junior.

By age 16, he was operating his own business, he bought a sailboat, in which he carried farm produce and passengers between Staten Island and New York. He was soon doing a profitable carrying business, and in 1813 carried supplies to fortifications in New York Harbor and the adjacent waters.
During the War of 1812, he secured a government contract to deliver supplies to posts throughout the area. He earned the nickname Commodore as commander of the largest schooner on the Hudson River.
Cornelius Vanderbilt had been awarded a gold medal by the United States government during the Civil War for donating his steamer "S.S. Vanderbilt" to the Union forces. Inheritance of this medal became the symbol for the titular head of the Vanderbilt family.
Recognizing the superiority of steam over sailing vessels, he sold his sloops and schooners, and in 1817-29 was a captain on a steam ferry between New York and New Brunswick. By 1830, Vanderbilt's business had expanded to the Hudson River. Soon he controlled coastal trade along the entire coast of New England, by the 1840's he owned 100 steamboats.
He saw the huge migration to California during the 1849 gold-rush as a tremendous opportunity, and formed the Accessory Transit Company to carry freight and passengers to the goldfields via Nicaragua. Ships from the east coast of the U.S. landed on the gulf coast of Nicaragua, transferred their passengers to a railroad running to the shore of Lake Nicaragua. From there a combination of steam packets and stagecoaches carried them over lake, river, and land to the Pacific Coast. There they again boarded steamships for the last leg of their journey to California.
Vanderbilt traveled to England to negotiate with the British for a possible canal to Lake Nicaragua, but disloyal managers and the filibuster, William Walker, caused him to change his plans. Through his military exploits William Walker made himself briefly President of Nicaragua, and revoked Vanderbilt's contract granting it to former Accessory Transit Co. managers. Vanderbilt was so angered by this that he ordered his ships out, and changed to the longer route across Panama.
In 1853 he announced that he was going to take the first vacation of his life. He built a sumptuously appointed steam yacht, The North Star and embarked for a triumphal tour of Europe.
In 1855, Vanderbilt opted for the luxury liner business and for a few years operated a line between New York and Le Havre, France. He built the Vanderbilt vessel, the largest and finest he had yet constructed.
One of the few purchases he was willing to make was his Staten Island mansion. The commodore Vanderbilt Mansion was built in 1839 at a cost of $27,000 dollars. The House was build halfway between Stapleton and Tompkinsville, it is still standing on Clove Road overlooking the water.
Between 1862 and 1864 he sold or leased most of his vessels to the union government and his fortune rose to $40,000,000.
In the early 1860s, Vanderbilt started withdrawing capital from steamships and investing in railroads.
At age 70 Vanderbilt decided to try and build a railroad empire. Vanderbilt's son, William, with Cornelius' backing was appointed receiver for the Staten Island Railroad, a horse-operated line bankrupted in 1857.
He acquired the New York and Harlem Railroad in 1862-1863, the Hudson River Railroad in 1864 and the New York Central Railroad in 1867. In 1869 they were merged into New York Central and Hudson River Railroad. By 1873, he had extended the lines to Chicago.
Vanderbilt subsequently purchased The Canada Southern, Michigan Central & Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroads to create a rail system from New York City to Chicago.

His fortune was variously estimated at from $90 million to $100 million, about $80 million of which he left to his son, William Henry. He made considerable benefactions to Vanderbilt University, he bequethed $50,000 for the Church of the Strangers in New York City and $1 million to Central University in Nashville, Tennessee, which became Vanderbilt University.

He was laid to rest in the Moravian Cemetery Staten Island Richmond County New York.

Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt 1830-1882
Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt, contested the will on the grounds his father was of unsound mind. The unsuccessful court battle lasted more than a year, and Cornelius Jeremiah Vanderbilt committed suicide in 1882.


Catherine Juliette (Vanderbilt) Barker LaFitte 1836-1881
Catherine was Commodore last daughter, born in 1836 and married Oakley Smith Baker in 1850, then married Gustive LaFitte in 1861. Catherine 4th child Adele Elma Baker died in 1920.

Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt, Mrs. Elliot Fitch Shepard 1845-1924, 1888

Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt 1845-1924 was the eldest daughter of William Henry Vanderbilt and Maria Louisa Kissam Vanderbilt. She married Elliott Fitch Shepard 1833-1893 in 1868. They lived in the double mansion on 5th Avenue and W 52nd Street, built by their father for Margaret, her sister Emily and their families, and at a magnificent country estate in Scarborough New York. The interior of the Shepherd house 5th avenue was predominantly Renaissance revival, with heavily carved woodwork. Their daughter was Alice Vanderbilt Shepard, Mrs. Dave Hennen Morris 1875-1950.

Cornelius II Vanderbilt 1843–1899

Cornelius II Vanderbilt, a railroad director, born on his father's farm, Staten Island, New York, November 27, 1843, died September 12, 1899, New York. He was William Henry's eldest son, head of the Vanderbilt family, and personal inheritor of a $67 million. He had an academic edutation, followed by training in bank and railroad offices. He was serious and diligent, he became his grandfather’s favorite and took over the New York Central upon his father’s retirement. He married on 1867 to Alice Claypoole Gwynne 1852-1934. Cornelius Vanderbilt II became Chairman and President of the New York Central Railroad system in 1885. He headed directorate of New York Central & Hudson River, N.Y. & Harlem, Michigan Central. He built a mansion in the Fifth Avenue and 57th Street which dining room included Vanderbilt portraits.

Residence of Cornelius Vanderbilt 1843-1899 New York, N.Y..
He purchased a cottage for $400,000 called The Breakers in Newport and in 1893 Richard Morris Hunt, persuaded Mr. and Mrs. Cornelius II to replace the wooden-framed house by a mansion patterned after the palazzos of 16th-century Genovese merchant-princes. Hunt directed an international team of craftsmen and artisans to create a 70-room Italian Renaissance palace. The enterprise took two years, the combined efforts of scores of craftsmen and designers from both sides of the Atlantic, countless cubic feet of Italian and African marble, rare woods, and mosaics from five continents, whole rooms imported from Paris. Crowning the estate's 30-foot-high, elaborately scrolled wrought-iron entrance gates are the initials "CV" for Cornelius Vanderbilt and the acorn-and-oak-leaf crest that appears throughout the house.
In August 1895, when "The Breakers," rose above the seagirt cliffs of Newport, Rhode Island, it was the largest, most opulent residence ever built in High Society's most exclusive summer enclave, at a 7 millions dollars budget. He helped to establish in New York City the Vanderbilt Clinic, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.

They had 7 children:

Gertrude 1875-1942
Gladys Moore Széchenyi 1886-1965
Cornelius III 1873-1942
Alfred Gwynne 1877-1915
Reginald Claypoole 1880-1925
William Henry II 1870-1892.

He was laid to rest in Moravian Cemetery Staten Island Richmond County New York.

The Breakers, Newport/Rhode Island

Emily Vanderbilt Sloane 1852-1946
In 1886, heiress Emily Vanderbilt Sloane and her husband, William Douglas Sloane, began construction of a summer residence "Elm Court", Lenox Massachusetts, a 110-room, 78,000-square-foot mansion, one of the greatest of the 19th-century Berkshire "cottages." It took the Sloanes more than 14 years to finally complete Elm Court, a New England mansion replete with gables, terraces, gardens, a solarium, fireplaces and a spectacular stone fountain in the courtyard. The complex was expanded in 1902 to become the largest private greenhouse complex in the country. Each greenhouse was designed by the English company Lord and Burnham, leaders in 19th century greenhouse technology. The greenhouses feature a main building and seventeen growing areas with massive brick foundations, thousands of feet of steel pipe for heating and Louisiana cypress wood mullions.
The world renowned French horticulturist Alphonse Chague' oversaw growing duties and helped establish a tradition of top quality plant production at Elm Court. But after the death of Emily Vanderbilt Sloane White in 1947, she remarried after the death of her husband in 1915, Col. Wilde attempted to run the mansion as a guest house. For more than 45 years, Elm Court remained empty. Lila Berle, a great-granddaughter of Emily's, moved in on Thanksgiving Day of 2001 and began cleaning, restoring and rebuilding. The Berles are on a renovation work for Elm Court into an inn. Elm Court was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 30, 1986.

Florence Vanderbilt Twombly 1854-1952
Her estates were; Townhouse 684 5th Avenue, New York, New York; Country house "Florham", Convent Station, NJ; summer residence, purchased 1896, now McAuley Hall, Salve Regina University, "Vinland", Newport, Rhode Island.

Florham residence and the Great HallThe story of "Florham," now the College at Florham Campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University, begins over 100 years ago. Heiress Florence Vanderbilt, granddaughter of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, renowned as the richest man in America, and her husband, financier Hamilton McKown Twombly, wanted a country estate. In 1887 they came to the quiet Morris County countryside, where over 100 other millionaires owned sprawling country retreats. The area's exclusive atmosphere and rural charm appealed to the Twomblys. In 1890 the couple acquired 1,200 acres stretching from "Millionaires Row," as Madison Avenue was then called and elderly Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York's Central Park, was commissioned to transform about 150 acres into a park of lawn, terraces and formal gardens. In 1894 the noted architects Charles McKim and William Mead with their partner, the flamboyant Stanford White, began work on the Twomblys' 100 room mansion, the centerpiece of the park. It was completed in 1897. The Great Hall's length was 150 feet, its floor was Italian Carrara marble. Busts of twelve Roman emperors stood on pedestals along the wall, which were hung with 17th-century tapestries, originally given to Cardinal Barberini by Louis XIII. Outbuildings included an orangerie, 10 greenhouses, a gate lodge, and carriage house. The latter building quartered 40 horses, numerous carriages and, in later years, a fleet of 15 cars including six maroon Rolls Royces. The new estate was called "Florham," a combination of their first names, Florence and Hamilton. Their staff, including grounds workers, numbered 125. Footmen,coachmen and chauffeurs wore maroon livery, the House of Vanderbilt color. Winters were spent at 684 Fifth Avenue, their New York City town house, and summers in Newport, Rhode Island, at their seaside "summer cottage" Vinland. The greater part of their country estate, over 900 acres stretching behind the Mansion, was developed into a working farm by Hamilton Twombly where he raised a world-renowned herd of Guernsey dairy cattle. Sadly tragedy overshadowed these achievements. The couple's oldest daughter, Alice, age 16, died of pneumonia in 1896. Hamilton Jr., their only son, drowned in a camping accident at age 18 in 1906. Bereft and inconsolable, Hamilton Twombly, Sr., died in 1910. As World War I ended, the excesses of the Gilded Age faded. Nevertheless, Florence Vanderbilt Twombly retained her title as uncrowned queen of American society. Quietly she lived on in imperial style at Florham, clinging to a an era when vast fortunes were ruthlessly made and lavishly squandered. In 1952 she died at age 99. In 1953 the estate's existence as a Twombly home for over half a century ended when the Twomblys' unmarried daughter, Ruth, died. The surviving daughter, Florence Twombly Burden, sold the Mansion's lavish contents at public auction in 1955. The splendor of Florham, and its Vanderbilt mystique ended. Only empty buildings and overgrown grounds remained.

Vinland residence of M. H. MacKay TwomblyIn 1896, Vinland was sold to railroad tycoon Hamilton McKnown Twombly and his wife, Florence Vanderbilt Twombly, whose brother Cornelius Vanderbilt II, owned The Breakers next door. Grand dame Florence became the reigning hostess of Vinland, a lavish and elegant center of social aspiration during the late Gilded Age and first half of the 20th century. As an extended member of Newport's prominent Vanderbilt family, Mrs. Twombly's highly formal, aristocratic entertainments were as well known as the maroon-liveried servants and entourage of Rolls Royces. The Twomblys enlarged the house considerably between 1907 and 1910. The interior at this time was recreated by Ogden Codman. Mrs. Twombly's daughter, Florence Burden, donated the Vinland estate to Salve Regina College in 1955. The house was renamed in the honor of Catherine McAuley, founder of the Sisters of Mercy. It has been used as a residence and a library, and today it serves as classrooms, offices, and conference facilities.

Eliza Vanderbilt Webb 1860-1936
Lila, as Eliza was known married Dr. William Seward Webb 1851-1926. The couple was one of the wealthiest in the nation thanks to a $10 million inheritance from Eliza's father, William Henry Vanderbilt. While Lila's seven siblings were building immense estates around the country, she purchased Shelburne House in the late 1880s to create an agricultural estate. The Renaissance Revival-style bedroom suite originally belonged to Lila’s father William Henry Vanderbilt. Family members were, Aileen Osborn Webb, the wife of Vanderbilt Webb, was the youngest son of Lila and Seward, William Seward and Lila’s eldest son James Watson, William Seward and Lila’s only daughter, Frederica.

Shelburne Farms was founded in the late 1880s by Dr. William Seward Webb (right) and his wife, Eliza Vanderbilt Webb (center). The agricultural estate was passed down through Vanderbilt Webb (front, left) and his son, Derick, before it was bequeathed to the non-profit organization that owns it today. Our goal is to use Shelburne Farms as a resource for inspiring a sense of stewardship around the environment," says president Alec Webb great-grandson of Eliza and William Webb.
In the late 1880s, the property was a collection of more than 30 small farms on 3,800 acres. Seward's passion was horses, which he intended to breed in Shelburne planning to create a new cross-breed of the English hackney with American breeds. This was a failure and the advent of the automobile didn't help his plan, either. In 1913, James Watson Webb, the oldest of Seward and Lila's four children, married Electra Havemeyer and received the southern portion of the estate (now Shelburne Museum) as a wedding gift. When Seward died in 1926, followed by Lila a decade later, Alec's grandfather, Vanderbilt Webb, inherited the northern portion. In 1956, Van, as he was known, passed it on to Alec's father, Derick. By the late '60s Alec and his five siblings was feeling pressure to sell. In the 1970s, the Webb descendants, were no longer able to maintain the estate. Two of Lila and Seward's great-grandsons, Alec and Marshall Webb, have overseen the transformation of Shelburne into a world-class, non profit environmental education center.

George Vanderbilt 1862-1914
Edith Stuyvesant Dresser Vanderbilt 1873-1958 1900 Biltmore Estate

George Washington Vanderbilt 1862–1914, was the fourth son of William H. Vanderbilt, born 14 November 1862, New Dorp, Staten Island, Richmond Co., New York, died 6 March 1914, Washington, DC, USA. He married in 1898 Edith Stuyvesant Dresser Vanderbilt. He interested himself in agriculture and forestry. He was an intellectual, fluent in several languages, well-traveled and knowledgeable about art, architecture, music, agriculture, horticulture literature and engaged in numerous philanthropies, giving to agricultural research and donating land for the establishment of Teachers College, Columbia University. He had an enormous love for India. He made regular trips to India during his lifetime. He also built the estate “Biltmore” 1895, reputed to have cost $3 million, a 225 room mansion, 100.000 acre French Renaissance chateau, nestled in the mountains just south of Asheville, North Carolina. There he directed experiments in agriculture, forestry, and stockbreeding. This great house remains the largest private residence in the United States, a National Historic Landmark, showcasing George Vanderbilt's original collection of furnishings, art and antiques. George's diverse and cultured tastes influenced his travels with architect Hunt while Biltmore House was being built. The two men journeyed throughout Europe and the Orient, purchasing paintings, porcelains, bronzes, carpets and furniture. All of it would eventually become part of the collection of 70,000 objects still in Biltmore today. George Vanderbilt, booked sailing on the Titanic and cancelled due to his mother's premonition. George inherited 15 million. He received 2 million from his grandfather in 1877, 1 million as a gift from William Henry at age 21 in 1883, 10 million when William Henry died in 1885, and another 2 million when his mother died in 1896, plus William Henry Vanderbilt's house on 5th Avenue in New York. I estimate he put 4-5 million into Biltmore house not counting furnishings. He put over 1 million into the landscaping alone. At his death the home, furnishings, and land were valued for tax purposes at about 2.5 million. The home did not hit his finances as much as the landscaping, and failed investments. He suffered especialy bad years in 1902, and 1907. He invested in his brother in-law's shipbuilding business in 1901, which sadly resulted in bankruptcy. The family all knew George had "run through" his money. Still the Cecils who own Biltmore are very well off today. George Vanderbilt's grandsons William Amherst Vanderbilt Cecil 1925 is still living in Asheville, NC, and George Henri Vanderbilt Cecil 1925 is the owner and operator of Biltmore Farms.

George was laid to rest in Moravian Cemetery Staten Island Richmond County New York.

Biltmore estate, house and garden

William K. and Alva Vanderbilt

William Kissam Vanderbilt 1849-1920
William K. a railroad executive and philanthropist, of Idle Hour, Oakdale, William H. Vanderbilt's son, born 12 December 1849, New Dorp, Staten Island, Richmond Co., New York, died 22 July 1920, Paris, France.
He was chairman of board of directors of Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad 1883-1903, president of New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railway 1882-87. He received $60 million upon his father death. He was a yachtsman, he owned and sailed the Defender in the international yacht races with England 1895. His yacht were the Tarantula 1902, Tarantula 1912.

The Alva, named for William K. Vanderbilt's wife had a crew of 52 men 1892
Tarantula

He also helped establish the Vanderbilt Clinic. His wife Alva Erskine Smith was born on January 17, 1853 in Mobile, Alabama, the daughter of a cotton planter Murray Forbes Smith. Her mother was the granddaughter of General Robert Deeha of Tennessee. She was educated in France and attained the social graces and accomplishments of a proper young lady in European society, with friends among the nobility, including her very best friend Consuelo Yznaga, who married a British Lord, and for whom her only daughter was named. In 1874 she married William Kissam Vanderbilt. He and his wife, Alva, began construction of the most beautiful private home in the world, at Oakdale, New York, which was named Idle Hour. Alva taught the Vanderbilt family how to spend their fortune by building mansions and palaces to live in the style of European royalty. Alva and William K. had three children, Consuelo, William Kissam, Jr., and Harold Stirling. They divorced and she married equestrian Oliver H. P. Belmont. In 1903, William K. married Mrs. Ann Harriman Rutherford Sands. On April 12, 1899 Idle Hour was consumed by fire.

At he same location, William K. Sr. decided a new mansion would be built, a palatial estate nestled on 862 acres of land. Construction began in 1900 with 110 rooms, marble was imported from Italy, twenty-four karat gold leaf accented imported woodwork in the salon, elaborately carved screens and panels were installed in lounges and drawing rooms, ornate plaster work adorned ceilings and walls.

W. K. Vanderbilt's 5th Ave Home
first of the twin mansions was the home of William H. Vanderbilt (William K.'s father; Alva's father-in-law); the second of the twin mansions was the home Wm. H. built for his daughters; the third home is the marble chateau built for William K. and Alva Vanderbilt in 1883. Beyond are the St. Thomas Church and the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.

In 1897, Alice and Cornelius Vanderbilt built the most splendid of the 5th Avenue Vanderbilt homes. Alva and W.K. Vanderbilt's Chateau, 660 Fifth Avenue. In the 1920s, fortunes were turning, and taxes took their toll on the Vanderbilt houses. First to be sold off was Alva's Chateau at 660 Fifth Avenue; next was the magnificent mansion that belonged to Alice and Cornelius. The mansion was demolished only 30 years after it was built.

William Kissam Vanderbilt's, Marble House, Newport R.I
Gold Ballroom Marble House

Gold-encrusted "Marble House" on Newport's Bellevue Avenue was completed in 1892, and lured many young European noble bachelors as well as all the wealthy sons of the American "Royalty" to catch a suitable husband for Consuelo. It was designed by the architect Richard Morris Hunt, inspired by the Petit Trianon at Versailles. The cost of the house was reported in contemporary press accounts to be $11 million, of which $7 million was spent on the 500,000 cubic feet of marble required for construction. The interiors of this house were among the most ambitious and sophisticated of the period. Mrs. Vanderbilt hired the most prominent decorators to furnish the rooms, including Herter Brothers and Jules Allard et Fils who created a Regence salon. The billiard room, decorated in the Moorish style, is the most exotic interior designed by Marcotte. The room had a geometric frieze, recesses with Islamic-inspired serrated arches, walls covered with complex floral tiles and a geometric frieze, and a ceiling with three spiderweb blocks and a geometric border on either side. Upon its completion, Mr. Vanderbilt gave the house to his wife as a 39th birthday present. After the Vanderbilts divorced in 1895, Alva Vanderbilt married Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont and Mrs. Belmont sold the house to Frederick H. Prince in 1932. The Preservation Society acquired the house in 1963 from the Prince estate. William Kissam Vanderbilt, died in 1920 leaving an estate of some $54.5 million. He was laid to rest in the Moravian Cemetery Staten Island Richmond County New York.

Frederick William Vanderbilt 1856-1938
Mrs. Frederick W. Vanderbilt 1926

Frederick William Vanderbilt a railroad manager, was born at the family's Staten Island farm on February 2, 1856. He was the youngest of 7 siblings. Frederick had attended Yale University from which he graduated in 1878, before entering his father's office, he was the first Vanderbilt to graduate from college. In 1878 he had married Louise Holmes Anthony, daughter of Charles L. Anthony, prominent financier of New York City and Newport, R.I. He was an expert in railroad management and noted as a yachtsman, he kept family tradition alive with a series of four large seagoing luxury craft, they were Vedette I, Warrior, and Vedette II.

Vedette II, Vanderbilt's last yacht a twin-screw diesel craft 158 feet long with a 23 man crew
Vanderbilt was a member of the Hudson River Yacht Club. He sat on the boards of 22 railroads, he was a director of the New York Central for 61 years where was his chief holdings. Unlike any of his brothers or their children, he managed to increase the $10 million inheritance he received at age 29 to $78 million by the time he died. He wisely invested in railroads, coal, oil, steel, and tobacco. Less than half of his fortune remained, however, after paying estate taxes to the federal and state governments. March and April were generally spent at Palm Beach, Florida. Here the Vanderbilts and their guests would cruise on their yacht in southern waters. Part of the summer might be spent in Europe. The Vanderbilts would cross the Atlantic on an ocean liner, having sent the yacht on ahead. Then they would pick up the yacht and cruise along the coast of Europe or in the Mediterranean. Frederick Vanderbilt and his wife Louise owned a townhouse in New York City for use during the winter theater season

The Frederick Vanderbilt townhouse at Fifth Avenue and 40th Street, New York City, razed in 1914
another at Rough Point, at Newport, Rhode Island, for use during the summer season, another summer home, Cornfield a residence at Bar Harbor, Maine, and a "Japanese Camp" on Upper St. Regis Lake in the Adirondacks Mountains of upstate New York.
Rough Point is situated on a rocky promontory overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. This vast English Manorial house was built in 1889 by Frederick W. Vanderbilt and was purchased in 1922 by James B. Duke, the founder of fortunes in electric power and tobacco.

Summer residence "Rough Point", Newport, Rhode Island
Hyde Park mansion, the Walter Langdom Jr. property, there were no surviving children when he died in 1894 at the age of 72, was offered for sale and Frederick W. Vanderbilt purchased it in 1895, a 600 acres estate which was enlarged in 1905 to another 64 acres.

The old Langdon House, built in 1847 and demolished to make way for Vanderbilt Mansion
Construction of the Mansion Hyde Park New York began in 1896, Frederick found the rolling countryside ideal for the pursuit of interests in purebred livestock and in horticulture, and reached completion 26 months later in 1898, at a cost of $660,000, with furnishings included, the cost rose to $2,250,000. And this was an age when a man worked all day for a dollar. Vanderbilt Mansion was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead, and White in 1896—1898 in an Italian Renaissance style. The mansion has about 50 rooms on 4 levels. Norcross Brothers, the largest construction firm in the country, brought in craftsmen from all over the world to work on the mansion. Italian craftsman cut and carved Italian marble on the site. German craftsmen executed the plaster and stone work on the interior of the building and hand carved the Indiana limestone on the exterior of the building. Using exotic woods such as Russian walnut and Santo Domingo mahogany, Swiss craftsmen carved elaborate walls and ceilings. Stanford White, a partner of McKim, Mead and White, influenced the interior design of the house from the start. For example, he possessed a European carved wooden ceiling that he wished to put in the Vanderbilt's dining room. The size of that ceiling determined the shape and size of the room. White collected the ceiling and other such treasures on his frequent buying trips to Europe. He knew his wealthy clients would be anxious to purchase expensive, antique furniture and design elements brought back from palaces and manor houses in Italy, France, and England. Vanderbilt Mansion is a palace transplanted from the Old World to the banks of the historic Hudson River. In the drawing room, seventeenth-century Florentine tapestries on the end walls bear the coat of arms of the Medici family. The Vanderbilt's wealth enabled them to incorporate the latest innovations into their estate. The completed mansion contained 54 rooms, including 14 bathrooms, 10 guest bedrooms, and several rooms for male and female servants. Notable specimen trees dot the landscape, many of them from Europe and Asia. Louise Vanderbilt delighted in entertaining at Hyde Park. Guests included nobility, and leaders in business, politics, and the arts. Visitors arrived by yacht at the estate's own river dock, by private railroad car at the estate's railroad station, or by chauffeur-driven automobiles. Aside from the 10 guest rooms in the mansion, the estate had guest bedrooms for bachelors located in the Pavilion, the house built for the Vanderbilts to live in as they oversaw the construction of the new mansion. The estate boasted two other guest houses as well. Entertainment provided by the Vanderbilts included drives around the grounds and countryside as well as golf, tennis, horseback riding, and swimming at neighboring estates. After a day filled with activity, guests assembled for a formal dinner. The Vanderbilt dining table comfortably seated 30 guests. No matter the season, flowers selected by Louise from the greenhouses or gardens adorned the dining room table. Elaborate meals, prepared in the basement kitchen and sent up to the dining room on the dumbwaiter, consisted of several courses accompanied by different wines. An evening of bridge or a dance held in the 30-foot-by-50-foot drawing room followed the formal dinners. The farm provided the Hyde Park estate with all food necessities, including vegetables, beef, poultry, and dairy products. Usually 40 or more people tended to the farm and gardens, while 17 to 23 servants staffed the mansion. At one time there were more than 60 full time employees, directed by the estate superintendent. Of this number, 17 were employed in the house, 2 in the pavilion, and 44 on the grounds and farm, 13 men cared for the gardens and lawns alone. When there were guests in the pavilion, additional cooks and maids were engaged from Hyde Park. Upon his wife's death in 1926, Paris, Frederick Vanderbilt sold his other houses and returned to his Hyde Park estate to live out the last 12 years of his life. Frededrick died at Hyde Park on June 29, 1938, at the age of 82. The Hyde Park estate was bequeathed to Mrs. James Van Alen, a niece of Mrs. Vanderbilt. Two years later, Mrs. Van Alen gave the estate to the Federal Government, and on December 18, 1940, it was designated a National Historic Site. Her neighbor in Hyde Park, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, had suggested that she donate the estate to the National Park Service as a monument to the Gilded Age. Since 1940 the 211 acres Margaret Van Alen donated to the federal government has been open to the public. The farm lands, which did not become part of the donation to the National Park Service, remain in private hands. The lavish mansion and its contents remain virtually unchanged from the time the Vanderbilts lived there.
Provided for in Fredrick's will were the Yale University, the Vanderbilt University at Nashville, the Vanderbilt Clinic at Columbia University, to Young Men's Christian Association (Y.M.C.A.) and the New York Association for Improving the Conditions of the Poor. Frederick Vanderbilt was placed in the family mausoleum at New Dorp, Staten Island.

the Mansion Hyde Park

Fourth Generation of Vanderbilt

The Duchess of Marlborough, Consuelo Vanderbilt 1877-1964

Consuelo, William Kissam's daughter, was born in Mar 1877 in New York. She died in 1964 in New York. Consuelo wrote her autobiography, "The Glitter and The Gold". She was married to Charles Richard John Spencer Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough on 6 Nov 1895 in Saint Thomas Church, 5th Avenue, New York, New York County, New York, in the "wedding of the century". Consuelos father gave to her as a wedding present a tiara or crown. She was divorced from Charles Richard John Spencer Churchill, 9th Duke of Marlborough. Children were: John Albert Edward Spencer Churchill, 10th Duke of Marlborough, Ivor Charles Churchill. The Duchess poured millions more into the restoration of Blenheim Palace. She was buried in 1964 in Blandon Churchyard at Blenheim.

Duke of Marlborough Family 1905 Duke of Malborough collection, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England
Consuelo Vanderbilt 1876–1964, Duchess of Marlborough, and Her Son, Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill 1898–1956 dated 1906

She had a marriage annulled in 1926. She remarried to famous French aviator Ltc Jacques Balsan on 4 July of 1921.

Harold S. Vanderbilt 1884-1970
Gertrude Vanderbilt

Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, july 6, 1884, july 4, 1970, "Mike", nicknamed "professor", of Newport RI, was born at Oakdale New York. Vanderbilt graduated from Harvard Law School in 1910, then entered his family's railroad business, New York Central Railroad. When Harold started traveling in NYC 3 in 1928, the New York Central System boasted 11,500 road miles of track serving the Northeast, Middle Atlantic States, Great Lakes and Canada. He was the last of the famous Vanderbilt Family to direct the New York Central Railroad until he was defeated for the control of the company in 1954. Harold Stirling Vanderbilt married Gertrude "Gertie" Lewis Conway. William K. Vanderbilt died in 1920 and bequeathed Idle Hour to his son Harold S. who recognized that the times of inconsiderate spending were over, sold Idle Hour for 460'000 $ in 1920. Most of the unique furniture was sold at auction in the late 1920s. Harold also pushed for the sale of the mansion at 660 Fifth Avenue, property of which he shared with his brother William Kissam jr. In the 1930s H. S. Vanderbilt whose statue stands in front of Buttrick Hall, successfully defended the America's Cup in international yachting competition with the "Enterprise" 1930,

America's Cup
the Enterprise defeating Shamrock V 1930
the Ranger 1934
the "Rainbow" 1934 and the "Ranger" in 1937. His wife Gertrude Vanderbilt was the first woman to race aboard an America's Cup yacht. A good sailor and tactician, Vanderbilt also won six King's Cups and five Astor Cups between 1922 and 1938, and helped create the racing rules as we know them today. Versatile II was his yacht in 1951. Yachting was not Harold's only passion. His great grandfather, the Commodore, was an inveterate card player, and some of his cousins and uncles were serious gamblers. Harold took up bridge seriously in 1906. The rapid spread of contract bridge from 1926 to 1929 is largely attributable to Vanderbilt's espousal of it. His social standing made the game fashionable and he codified the game, to some extent the laws of contract bridge in 1925. Harold S. Vanderbilt, changed the course of bridge while on a cruise in 1925, he originated the factors of vulnerability and inflated slam bonuses. He suggested that only tricks bid and made count toward game, with extra tricks counted as bonuses. These revised rules turned auction bridge into contract bridge. Vanderbilt's technical contribution to bridge play was significant.
Vanderbilt Club Opening Bids
These opening bids were devised, revised and developed by Mr. Harold S. Vanderbilt in the early pioneer days of the game of bridge. Following a 1 Club opening, showing any shape and 17 high card points plus, a first reponse of 1 Diamond is considered to be an artificial negative response, but all other first responses, especially on the one level, are natural. Any first response after a 2 Diamond opening bid promises an Ace or first round control in that suit.

1 Club: 17+ HCPs, any shape
1 Diamond: 12-16 HCPs 4+ Diamond suit
1 Heart: 12-16 HCPs 4+ Heart suit
1 Spade: 12-16 HCPs 4+ Spade suit
1 NT: 15-17 HCPs Balanced shape
2 Clubs: 12-16 HCPs 5+ Club suit
2 Diamonds: 22 HCPs Balanced shape and/or game-forcing bid
2 Hearts: 6-12 HCPs 6 Hearts
2 Spades: 6-12 HCPs 6 Spades
2NT: 22-23 HCPs Balanced shape

Harold S. Vanderbilt's books were: Contract Bridge Bidding and the Club Convention; The New Contract Bridge; Contract by Hand Analysis; and The Club Convention Modernized. Vanderbilt was a member of the Laws Committee of the Whist Club of New York that made the American laws of contract bridge 1927, 1931, and the first international code 1932.

The Vanderbilt Cup
This trophy was donated and presented by Mr. Harold Vanderbilt to the winners of the National Knockout Team Championships which were founded in 1928. The championship games became a part of the Spring North American Championships in 1958, but the trophy itself remains one of the most prized trophies of bridge. The Vanderbilt Cup was also donated and presented by Mr. Harold Vanderbilt for the first World Olympiad Team Championship held in Italy in 1960. As a player, Vanderbilt always ranked high. In 1932 and 1940 he won his own Vanderbilt Cup. He played by choice only in the strongest money games, and was a consistent winner. His regular partnership with Waldemar von Zedtwitz was among the strongest in the U.S..
Vanderbilt Cup winners in 1932; Waldemar von Zedtwitz, Willard Karn, Harold S. Vanderbilt, P. Hal Sims.
Vanderbilt Cup winners in 1940; Edward Hymes Jr., Charles Lochridge, Robert McPherran, Harold S. Vanderbilt, Waldemar von Zedtwitz.
Vanderbilt bequeathed to the ACBL a trust fund of $100,000. In 1969, the World Bridge Federation made Vanderbilt its first honorary member. When a Bridge Hall Of Fame was inaugurated in 1964, Harold S. Vanderbilt was one of the first three persons elected. Harold and Gertrude were elected in the America's Cup Hall of Fame.
As a memorial to his mother, Harold bought Marble House in 1963 from the trust company that owned it. He was laid to rest in the Saint Marys Cemetery, Portsmouth, Newport County, Rhode Island.

William Kissam Vanderbilt II 1878-1944
Mrs. Graham Fair Vanderbilt 1875-1935
Rosamund and William Vanderbilt on their yacht during a 1929 world cruise
William Vanderbilt in a favorite position, behind the wheel of an automobile, in about 1908

William Kissam Vanderbilt II 1878-1944
William Kissam II, known to friends as “Willie K".
He was educated by tutors, attended St. Mark's Preparatory School, and studied at Harvard. He spent his childhood at the family’s Fifth Avenue mansion, at summer houses in Newport, Marble House, and Long Island, Idle Hour. In the 1920's William and Rosamund Vanderbilt created a spendid winter estate on tropical island Carl Fisher in South Florida. This retreat was named Fisher Island. He was married in 1899 to Virginia Graham Fair Vanderbilt 1875-1935 known as Birdie, whose father James Graham Fair an Irish immigrant who made $200 million from Nevada's Comstock silver lode, one of the richest silver finds in history. They were the parents of William K. Vanderbilt III, Muriel and Consuelo Vanderbilt. Willie K. was an accomplished sailor and yachtsman, he liked horse racing, motorboats, automobiles and collecting. In 1900 he won the Lipton Cup trophy with his 70-foot yacht Virginia and was presented the award by Sir Thomas Lipton who initiated the races. His yacht were the Hard Boiled Egg and the Eagle.

the legendary 250 foot Eagle yacht swapped in 1925 by William K. Vanderbilt II for Carl Fisher's island W. K. Vanderbilt Jr.'s auto boat Mercedes VI, won the first race on the Hudson River for the gold Challenge Cup 1904.
In 1904, Willie K. sponsored the first Vanderbilt Cup Race, for motor cars at Long Island. Later he and a group of men formed the Long Island Motor Parkway Corporation and built one of the country's first modern paved parkways. He was an automobile enthusiast in January, 1904 he broke the world's one-mile speed record at Ormond Beach, Fla., covering a mile in just 39 seconds at 92 mph. The Red Devil was only one of several cars Vanderbilt owned in his early days of driving. His first was a Stanley Steamer, purchased in 1899. In 1901, he bought a 33-hp Daimler in Paris that could go 65 mph called the White Ghost, in 1904 he had a white Mercedes.

Motor Racing Vanderbilt Cup
Original cup donated by Willie K Vanderbilt 1904-1905-1906-1908-1909-1910-1911-1912-1914-1915-1916. Revived in 1936 with a new cup donated by George Vanderbilt 1936-1937. A Formula Junior race was held in 1960 with another cup, donated by Cornelius Vanderbilt 1960. CART US 500 gains the rights to the Vanderbilt Cup, 1996-1997-1998-1999. Vanderbilt Cup is now awarded to the CART season champion, replacing the PPG Cup, 2000-201-2002.
The first Vanderbilt Cup started october 8th 1904, on Long Island roads

the Vanderbilt Cup made of Tiffany silver
first international competition for the WILLIAM-K-VANDERBILT-JR-CUP held on Long Island saturday october 8th 1904
and the last in 1916 Santa Monica. The first 300-mile George Vanderbilt Cup race at the new Roosevelt Raceway would be held on October 12, 1936, Columbus Day.

George Vanderbilt, the American multi-millionaire "sponsor" of the race, gives the enormous Vanderbilt Cup to Mantuan that is still on his Alfa Romeo type 12C-36.

He crossed the Atlantic in his father's luxury yacht, and at age 11 had his first ride in a motorcar, a steam-powered three-wheeler, in Monte Carlo. Willie K. went to Harvard, where he joined the yacht club and the polo club, but evidently was not a scholar and he left Cambridge after a year and a half with a certificate of honorable dismissal. In 1917, Vanderbilt was named president of the New York Central, but was always considered something of a figurehead. He attended night classes in navigation at the Merchant Marine School. He served in the Navy during World War I, and was a Lieutenant Commander in the United Naval Reserve. Arriving on Long Island, the Vanderbilts decided to build a country retreat at Lake Success and built a modest, by Vanderbilt standards, colonial-style home on the hilltop at Lake Success and called his new estate Deepdale. An avid collector of natural history specimens, ethnographic objects and other curiosities of exotic cultures, Vanderbilt sailed his yachts the Ara and Alva around the globe on expeditions that yielded a vast array of treasures for his collection, and he left an enduring legacy for all to enjoy in his Centerport estate, now the Suffolk County Vanderbilt Museum. In 1910, he began work on the “Eagle’s Nest” estate, a spanish revival style mansion on 43 wooded acres overlooking Northport Harbor, the property contrasted in scale with "Deepdale", Great Neck, Long Island, NY, built in 1902. In september 1927 Willie K. and Rosamund Lancaster Warburton, of Philadelphia, were married in a civil cermony at the mayors office in Paris. The official witness was his step-mother Anne, and the mother of the bride. Rosamund was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in May 1897 to John Edward Lancaster and his wife, the former Agnes Maria Fanning. In 1919 she was married at Elkton, MD to Barclay Harding Warburton, Jr. son of Warburton and his wife, Mary Brown Wanamaker, daughter of the department store founder John Wanamaker, of Philadelphia. The Warburtons, who had two children, Rosemary, who married William C.T. Gaynor, M.D. and had a child, and Barkley III, who married twice and who died in 1988 were divorced the year before her marriage to Willie K.

A Memorial Wing was constructed in 1935 in memory of his son, William K. Vanderbilt III, who had died in an auto accident in 1933 on a highway in South Carolina. William K. Vanderbilt III was returning to New York from his father's Florida estate when his car hit a fruit truck parked on the roadside. He was 26 years old. Vanderbilt, built a new wing to Eagle's Nest to commemorate his son, calling it Memorial Wing. It housed stuffed trophies from his son's recent hunting trips in the Sudan and a huge mural depicting young Vanderbilt on safari. In the 1930s Willie K. opened the estate to the public several days a week.
The fortune had dwindled by the time William K. Vanderbilt II died in 1944. The Fifth Avenue mansions built by his parents had been sold and wrecked. And none of the Vanderbilts could afford to live in any of the great estates that their parents and grandparents had built. Willie K. owned a hunting lodge and preserve in Canada, a farm in Tennessee, a place at Fisher's Island in Florida (complete with seaplane hangar, docking facilities, an eleven hole golf course, each hole being named after one of his yachts, tennis courts, swimming pool, etc.), and the summer estate at Centerport, "Eagle's Nest." Willie K. died in early 1944 of a heart ailment and was laid to rest in the Moravian Cemetery Staten Island Richmond County New York. Rosamund died three years later, and Eagle's Nest along with a $2,000,000 fund for its perpetuation, was left to Suffolk County, Long Island.

Alice Vanderbilt Shepard, Mrs. Dave Hennen Morris 1875-1950, 1880

Alice Shepard 1874-1950 was the daughter of Margaret Louisa Vanderbilt 1845-1924 and Elliott Fitch Shepard 1833-1893. Alice married in 1895 to Dave Hennan Morris 1872-1944. Dave Morris was a pre-medical student at Harvard. His father was head of the Louisiana lottery and involved in horse racing having become Vice President of the St Louis Southwestern Railway, US Ambassador to Belgium and an Officer of the Legion of Honor.

William Henry II Vanderbilt 1870-1892

William Henry II, the son of Cornelius II and Alice Claypoole Gwynne, died while a student at Yale.

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney 1875-1942

Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney was the daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II and his wife Alice Claypoole Gwynne. Gertrude spent her summers in Newport, Rhode Island, at a mansion called "The Breakers." She was married to Harry Payne Whitney on August 25, 1896, born 28 april 1872 New York, New York, death october 1930. He was the son of William Collins Whitney, a prominent attorney and Flora Payne. She became a sculptor, which she rediscovered on a trip to Europe in 1901 and an ardent patron of American art, she founded the Whitney Museum in New York City.

Gertrude and Harry had three children, Flora, Barbara and Cornelius. Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney died on April 18, 1942.

Gladys Moore Vanderbilt 1890
Countess Gladys Szechenyi, the youngest daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt II., born 1890, married 1908 to Count Laszlo Szechenyi of Hungary. She inherited the Breakers on her mother's death in 1934. In 1948 she leased the hard-to-maintain property to the non-profit Preservation Society of Newport County. In 1973, the Preservation Society purchased the house from her heirs. Today, the house is designated a National Historic Landmark.
László Széchényi was born in Hungary in 1931, the second son of a wealthy landowner. He spent his early childhood living on the estates of his father and his grandmother in an environment which he considered "Utopia" and which, indeed, no longer exists. The splendor, peace, security, and beauty of that era influenced him for life and he always considered that lifestyle as something so exceptional that one could only contemplate it in dreams. When he was 13 he was forced to flee the approaching Russian war front with his family, packing only the bare necessities, leaving everything else behind. The lot of a refugee from communism in a strange land was the next episode in his life until emigration to the United States of America established a new long-term home for the family. Today he lives in retirement in Florida with his wife. They have raised four children and have two granddaughters as well. He considers himself a true internationalist and is actively supporting the re-building of his devastated country of birth, Hungary. László was born as: "The Honorable Count László Széchényi of Sárvár and Felsővidék," a member of one of Hungary's oldest and most respected noble families.
Count László Széchényi: Visions of Utopia, 278 pages, 55 photos, 1998.
The Curse of Cheju Island by Laszlo Szechemyi 1994.

Cornelius III Vanderbilt, 1873-1942

Cornelius III the son of Cornelius II and Alice Claypoole Gwynne, married Grace Wilson born 1873.
Cornelius III was a military officer, inventor, engineer, and yachtsman. H e earned a degree in mechanical engineering, being a designer of a practical locomotive tender, he patented more than thirty inventions for improving locomotives and freight cars.
On his father's death in 1899 Neily Vanderbilt received only $500,000 in cash and the income from a $1 million trust fund.
In 1901, he was made a Second Lieutenant in the Twelfth Infantry Regiment of the New York National Guard, he fought in the border wars with Mexico in 1916, and in World War I served overseas as commander of the 102nd Engineers.
Rising through the ranks to Brigadier General, he was placed in command of the 25th Infantry Brigade. For his services during the War, he was given the Distinguished Service Medal by the government of the United States, the New York State Conspicuous Service Medal, made a commander of the Order of the Crown of Belgium and awarded that country's Croix de Guerre. The government of France made him a Commander of the Legion of Honor.
In 1910, he piloted his yacht to victory in the New York Yacht Club's race for the "King Edward VII Cup."
He became a member of the City Committee in the Salvation Army Drive, New York 1919.
In 1940, he sold his Fifth Avenue mansion in New York.
His wife Grace Vanderbilt lived another eleven years after his death, passing away on January 7, 1953. They are buried together in the Vanderbilt family mausoleum in the Moravian Cemetery.

Their son was Cornelius Vanderbilt IV 1898-1974.

Alfred G. Vanderbilt 1877-1915

Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt 1877-1915
Alfred Gwynne a noted horse breeder, a playboy and he went down on the Lusitania.
Alfred was born in New York on 20 October 1877 to Cornelius and Alice Claypoole Gwynne Vanderbilt. Alfred was educated at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, and at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Graduated Yale, 1890. All of his brothers were Yale alumni. Alfred Vanderbilt owned a farm noted for horses in Portsmouth, Rhode Island (near Newport) called Oakland Farm. His father contributed to the construction of Vanderbilt Hall on the Yale campus in 1894 in memory of William Henry, Alfred's eldest brother who had died while a junior there. When Alfred's older brother Cornelius, Jr. married Miss Grace G. Wilson against Cornelius Sr.'s wishes in 1896, Cornelius, Sr. cut off the elder brother from the bulk of the inheritance. On 11 January 1901, Alfred married Miss Elsie French, daughter of the wealthy Francis Ormonde French, and brother of Amos Tuck French, father of Miss Julia Estelle French who married Jack Geraghty, the son of a liveryman. A son, William Henry Vanderbilt III, was born to them on 24 November 1901. Ellen filed for divorce on 1 April 1908 for Alfred's adultery aboard his private railway car the Wayfarer with Agnes (Mary) O'Brien Ruiz, wife of the Cuban attaché in Washington. The divorce reportedly cost Vanderbilt $10 million. Agnes Ruiz was duly divorced by her husband. Devastated, she committed suicide by poison in her London hotel room not long afterward. Pressured by family, Alfred married again on 17 December 1911 to Margaret Emerson Smith Hollins McKim, a divorcée herself. Margaret was a daughter of Captain Isaac E. Emerson of Baltimore and heiress to the Bromo-Seltzer fortune. Alfred and Margaret were married in Reigate, 25 miles outside of London. Margaret and Alfred both had a passion for horses, and the Vanderbilt estate in Newport had the largest private riding ring in the world.
Vanderbilt's purpose in traveling on the Lusitania in May 1915 was to direct a meeting of the International Horse Breeders' Association. Margaret and the two children decided to stay in New York City, in the Vanderbilt Hotel on Park Avenue. The morning of the sailing, a notice from the German Embassy appeared in the newspapers, warning Americans away from Allied ships. Vanderbilt and his wife just laughed the warning off. After the ship was torpedoed, Alfred and his valet Ronald Denyer calmly assisted several women and children to safety. "Hurry Mr. Vanderbilt, or it will be too late!" Vanderbilt did not listen and continued assisting women and children. The truth was, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, the renowed sportsman and ladies man, did not know how to swim. the Lusitania took her final plunge and Vanderbilt's body was never found. His death date is given as May 7, 1915. He is recorded being at the Moravian Cemetery Staten Island Richmond County New York.
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt left $ 26 million, most of it to his infant sons, who would also share in the Emerson fortune, Alfred Jr. 1912-1999, became a noted owner of racehorses including Native Dancer, George Washington III 1914-1961, yachtsman, scientific explorer.

William Henry Vanderbilt III
William Henry III was Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt 1877-1915's son. He inherited the Oakland Farm, with his Thoroughbred horses and a $ 5 million trust fund. William H. Vanderbilt III first wife was Emily O'Niel Davies. In December 1927 Emily Married Sigourney Thayer. Emily Died in 1935.

Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt 1880-1925
Reginald was born 1880 to Cornelius II and Alice Claypoole Gwynne Vanderbilt. Reginald "Reggie", father of Gloria, owned a farm noted for horses in Portsmouth as well called Sandy Point. A horse enthusiast, he lived at Sandy Point Farm, in Newport, Rhode Island and in 1917, founded the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF).
Reginald also married twice. His first marriage to Cathleen Gebhardt Neilson ended in divorce 1919 and brought a daughter, Cathleen 1904-1944, who later became Mrs Henry Cooke Cushing III.
His second marriage, march 6 1923, to Gloria Laura Mercedes Morgan, the daughter of US consul. Gloria Laura Mercedes Morgan was born Aug 23, 1904 and died Feb 3, 1965, Newport. By the time Reggie Vanderbilt met her, he had already squandered the $7 million willed to him by his late father and was using up a $5 million trust set up for him by his grandfather.
She was involved in a bitter custody battle for her daughter, after her husband's death, and lost. She is buried with her twin sister, Thelma, the Viscountess Furness at the Holy Cross Cemetery Culver City Los Angeles County California. Their dauhgter is Gloria the fashion designer. He left a $4 million Trust for his daughter Gloria to be administered by her mother but it caused a much publicized court case for the custody of his daughter with his sister, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney who eventually won custody in 1934. Reginald was laid to rest in the Moravian Cemetery Staten Island Richmond County New York.

Cornelia Vanderbilt 1900-1976
Cornelia Vanderbilt was the only daughter of George Washington Vanderbilt. On his death in 1914, Cornelia inherited Biltmore House, the largest and most distinguished private residence in the United States, where she was born and grew up. In 1924, Cornelia married The Honorable Sir John Francis Amherst Cecil 1900-1954. The Cecils are one of the most historic and aristocratic of English families. They achieved prominence during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I 1558-1603.
Edith Vanderbilt Cecil’s grandmother was Cornelia Vanderbilt 1900 - 1976. Her great grandfather was George Washington Vanderbilt 1862 - 1914 and her great grandmother was Edith Vanderbilt 1870 - 1958, after whom she was named. Her great-great grandfather was William Henry Vanderbilt (1821 - 1885). And her great-great-great grandfather was The Commodore, Cornelius Vanderbilt 1794 - 1877.

Fith Generation of Vanderbilt

The Misses Consuelo and Muriel Vanderbilt

Consuelo Vanderbilt 1877-1964

Consuelo was the daughter of William Kissam II and Virginia Graham Fair.

Muriel Vanderbilt

Muriel was William K. Vanderbilt II's and Virginia Graham Fair's second daughter.

Cornelius Vanderbilt Jr. 1898-1974
Cornelius Jr., journalist, the son of Cornelius III and Grace Wilson, a grandson of the younger Cornelius Vanderbilt, became a well-known writer, newspaper publisher, and movie producer. Cornelius was married seven times; Rachel Littleton, Mary Weir Logan, Helen Varner Anderson 1934-1940, Maria Feliza Pablos, Patricia Murphy Wallace, Anna Bernadetta Needham, Mary Lou Bristol. There were no children from any of his marriages. Cornelius Jr. is recorded being at the Moravian Cemetery Staten Island Richmond County New York

Alfred Gywnne Vanderbilt 1912-1999.
A sportsman, grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt II reputed to be the richest man in the world, of Mill Neck, died on Nov. 12, 1999 at 87. He was born in London 1912. His mother, Margaret Emerson, was from the Bromo Seltzer wealth and his father, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, died after giving his lifejacket to a woman on the Lusitania when the ship sank.
Mr. Vanderbilt was educated at St. Paul's School and Yale. He spent his life breeding, owning and racing horses. Alfred Vanderbilt Jr. was a noted horse breeder as well on Long Island. He ran the Pimlico Race Course and Belmont Park while he was in his twenties. He pioneered the use of the starting gate and the photo finish. He was the skipper of a PT boat and shot lions with Ernest Hemingway in Africa.
When he was 21, his mother gave him the 600-acre Sagamore Farm in Maryland. He bred horses there for the next 40 years. His line of stars began with Discovery who won six stakes races over all and sired 25 horses who won stakes. He was president of the Westchester Racing Association and served as chairman of the board of the NYRA for four years. He was chief executive of the Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga Racetracks. He was a member of the Jockey Club and was voted by New York's turf writers as the man who did the most for racing four times.
Mr. Vanderbilt's greatest achievement in racing was Native Dancer, whose name was one of the lineage puns for which Mr. Vanderbilt was famous. Native Dancer reigned as the champion 2-year-old colt in 1952 champion 3-year-old colt in 1953 and Horse of the Year in 1954. He went on to win the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes and six other stakes before retiring. And there was Next Move, the champion 3-year-old filly in 1950 and Bed o'Roses, the champion 2-year-old filly 1949 and the champion handcap in 1951.
In 1994, generations of Vanderbilts gathered in New York to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt, who founded the Vanderbilt fortune, great-great grandfather of Alfred Vanderbilt. Some of his famous relatives were his aunt Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, artist and founder of the Museum of Modern Art; his uncle, Cornelius Vanderbilt III, brigadier general; another aunt Gladys Moore Vanderbilt, who inherited the Breakers, the family summer cottage in Newport, RI.
Mr. Vanderbilt's courtships and marriages were regulars in the society pages. In 1938 he married Manuela Hudson. In 1946 he married Jeanne Murray and in 1957 Jean Harvey, heiress to the Harvey restaurant chain and Cudahy meat-packing empire. The marriages ended in divorce. His children from three marriages are Wendy, Heidi, Alfred Jr., Victoria and Michael. Another son, Nicholas Harvey Vanderbilt, died in 1984. His other children survive him as do seven grandchildren. Other family members include: his half-brother William Henry Vanderbilt III, governor of Rhode Island from 1938 to 1940; his younger brother, George Washington Vanderbilt III, a yachtsman and explorer; his first cousin, Gloria Vanderbilt, the daughter of another uncle, Reginald Claypool Vanderbilt and a famous clothing designer.
Mr. Vanderbilt had a wide range of artistic interests acquired through his mother's circle of artistic and theatrical friends. His own friends included George Abbot, Hal Prince and Fred Astaire.

Gloria Vanderbilt 1924

Gloria Laura Vanderbilt, born February 20 or February 24, 1924, was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family and an accomplished artist, actress, and socialite most noted as a spokeswoman for designer blue jeans.

The only child of American railroad heir Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt 1880-1925 and his wife, Gloria Laura Mercedes Morgan1904-1965, a beautiful Swiss-born socialite of American, Chilean, Spanish, and Irish descent, little Gloria became heiress to a four million dollar trust fund on her father's death when she was 2 years old. The rights to control this trust fund while Gloria was a minor belonged to her legal guardian, her mother, and Gloria therefore became the subject of a custody battle in a famous and scandalous trial in 1934, in which testimony was heard depicting her mother as an unfit parent, charges which included Gloria Sr.'s intention to marry a German prince. A maid testified to seeing the glamorous widow Vanderbilt bathing her feet in Champagne and gave evidence of an apparent lesbian relationship with a member of the British royal family, the marchioness of Milford Haven (née Nadjeda, Countess Torby, who married a nephew of Queen Mary); her mother eventually lost custody to Gloria's aunt Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney but litigation continued.

Gloria married, in 1941, Hollywood agent Pasquale DiCicco ("Pat" DiCicco); they divorced in 1945. She married, secondly, as his third wife, on April 21, 1945, conductor Leopold Stokowski; they had two sons, Leopold Stanislaus Stokowski (born 1950) and Christopher Stokowski (born 1955); they divorced in October 1955. She married, thirdly, on August 28, 1956, director Sidney Lumet; they divorced in August 1963. She married, fourthly, in 1964, author Wyatt Emory Cooper; they had two sons, Carter Vanderbilt Cooper (1965-1988), and newsman Anderson Cooper (born 1967).

Gloria studied art at the Art Student's League in New York City, and became known for her artwork, giving one-woman shows of oil paintings, watercolors, and pastels. This artwork was adapted and licensed, starting about 1968, by Hallmark (a manufacturer of paper products) and by Bloomcraft (a textile manufacturer), and Gloria began designing specifically for linens, china, glassware and flatware. During the 1970s, Gloria licensed the use of her name on lines of fashion eyeglasses, perfume and clothing. Initially, her involvement in clothing consisted of putting her name (in place of the previous brandname, "Lucky Pierre", on a line of blouses produced by the Murjani Corporation. In 1979, Murjani proposed launching a line of designer jeans carrying Gloria's brand. They were very successfully marketed as "Gloria Vanderbilt designer jeans". They were more tightly fitted than the other jeans of the time, with her name in script on the back pocket: Gloria appeared in a series of television ads promoting them. The designer label flourished, with the Gloria Vanderbilt logo eventually appeared on dresses and perfumes as well.

Six Generation of Vanderbilt

In 1973, the first Vanderbilt family reunion, 120 descendants, took place at Vanderbilt University.

 

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